What The Hell!
by fireyred
Summary: What if Soul Society really was ruled by a monarchy, and not just by the King? Please read & review! And I do NOT own anything other than the original characters. Everything else belongs to Kubo-sensei.
1. Sick Day

--Ichigo's POV--  
As I walked along the water's edge with Rukia by my side and my bag heavy than normal, there was a long silence. School just let out and we were walking home. Rukia turned to the road that led to the clinic, but I continued heading straight.

"Where are you heading?" she questioned as I walked away.

"I have to go somewhere. You can head home; I'll be there in a little bit." I replied as I gave her a slight wave, not bothering to turn around.

I heard her give a disgruntled sigh as she headed to my house which was a temporary home for her until she got her spirit energy (reiatsu) back. But before I could head home, I had a little errand to do. After a few minutes, I turned onto a familiar road and walked down the sidewalk until I reached one of the largest houses on the road. I stepped up to the house, which was quite intimidating to someone who has never been here, with its western inspired architecture and dark colored wood on the outside. Double doors were the entrance to the four storied building that also gave the house a frightening look to it, but I was used to it.

I walked up to the front door and opened it, knowing the people inside wouldn't mind. As I walked into the two-storied foyer, I heard a familiar voice talking from a nearby room. She was speaking English, so I know that she was talking on the phone. I didn't bother to take off my shoes, because no one in this family didn't bother either, and actually found it kinda annoying whenever someone would while entering their house.

Maybe I should tell you about the people that live in this house. There are only two people though, so it should be easy.

First, there's granny. Her real name is Kaiyo Takashi, but everyone calls her Granny, and when you first meet her, she insists that you call her Granny and not Takashi-san or anything like that. She has pure white hair and in her 70's or 80's, I'm not sure if anyone really does know her age except her. Her soft chocolate eyes always shown with caring and love. She was about three inches shorter than me and pretty slim. She was always a joker, believe it or not. She always knows how to make anyone laugh and have a good time.

Second, is Lily Takashi, Granny's granddaughter. Lily is a cute girl, which is only six months younger than me. Lily is about six inches shorter than me and has a very spunky personality, like she was seven years old, but she is one of the smartest people in our class. Her parents were an interesting couple. Her dad was Japanese, with the traditional brown hair and brown eyes, and went to America for college. There he met Lily's mother. She was a combination of half Irish and half German, and looked like it, with light red hair, light green eyes with flecks of blue in them, and pale skin that easily freckled and burned under the sun. Lily was a combination of the two of them, with dark red hair and dark green eyes with the flecks of blue. Unfortunately, she picked up her mom's skin and burns very easily.  
Lily has dual citizenship in both Japan and America cause she still has family in America and she goes back there every once in a while. The reason why she lives with Granny is because her parents died in a car accident about ten years ago, when we were both five. Ever since then, Granny has been Lily's guardian.

I followed Granny's voice to the living room. There I see her with a wireless phone in hand. She noticed me as I walked into the living room. She smiled and gave a small wave, then pointed upward, indicating that Lily was upstairs. I smiled back and gave a little wave of thanks. I walked back into the foyer and went to the stairs on the left side. Lily hasn't been in school for the last week cause she said that she had caught the flu or a really bad cold, she wasn't sure which, which is why Rukia hasn't met her yet.  
As I started going up the stairs, I heard Granny yell, "Ichigo?!"

I looked over the railing and saw Granny standing in the hallway, "Yeah?"

"Could you get Lil her tea? I have to go into town for a little bit."

"Sure. In the kitchen, right?"

"Yeah, thanks."

I jumped over the railing and walked towards Granny.

"Don't do that. You could bust a knee cap or something." she said in a slightly scolding way.

"No I won't." I retorted with a smirk.

She sighed and looked at me as I walked past her to the kitchen. "Anything interesting happen while Lil was sick?" she asked.

"Not really." I lied, I couldn't tell her about Rukia and the whole substitute shinigami thing, "I brought Lily's homework from the last week."

"Thanks a lot Ichigo. I'm sure Lily will love that." she says, giving the last sentence sarcasm. "Well, I'm off. Can you stay here until I get back, or do you have to head home right away?"

"I should head home right after this. Karin and Yuzu don't know I'm here." I say thinking of Rukia.

"Oh, it's Ok. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, bye Granny."

She then headed out the door and I went into the kitchen to find a kettle of almost boiling water on the stove and a mug on the counter next to it. I poured the tea and started walking back up the stairs. Lily's room was on the top floor, two stairways up. I know what you're thinking, "Two stairways, but that's three floors." Well, there's the three floors above ground and one under it, ya know, a basement. Once I reached the third floor, I walked three doors down to the right and knocked on the left side door. I heard nothing, so I just let myself in and saw Lily's room. In the middle, on the right side wall, was her bed, covered with blue and purple sheets, with a lump in the middle. On the pillows, I saw Lily's very unique red hair resting. Awwww, she was asleep.

I chuckled slightly as I walked up to the bed and pulled down the blankets. She groaned and stirred, but didn't wake up. I knew it was mean to wake her up, but I had to.

I sat down on the bed and began to shake her gently. She groaned again and finally opened one of her eyes.

"Ok, Ok, I'm up. Stop shaking me." she said in a sleepy voice.

"Hey." I said to her.

"Hey Ichi." she replies, still very sleepy.

"I've got something that'll wake you up." I reach into my bag and pulled out a stack of papers for her.

"What is this?"

"Make-up work. You better get started now." I joke with her.

She looks at it disbelief, then towards me with a pleading look on her face. "Fine I'll help you. But only if you get to school tomorrow. The teacher is giving you a week to turn that in. I'll help you during lunch."

She squealed and tackled me into a hug. "Thanks so much Ichi. You're the best."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Now can you get off of me?" I say as I try to get her off. She lets go and sits up and takes the stack of paper away from me and placing it on the bedside table. "Oh, yeah, this is for you." I say giving her the tea.

"Thanks Ichi." she says as she takes it from me and takes a sip of it, "Are you staying?"

"Sorry, gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, bye till then."

We said good-bye and I headed back to home. It started getting dark as I was heading home, so I picked up the pace and arrived before it got completely dark.

When I got in Karin and Yuzu were already there and Yuzu had started dinner. I then noticed that something was...missing.

"Hey, where's dad?" I asked them.

"He said he was going to be late again." Karin answered.

I sighed and started walking to the stairs.

"Hey, where were you?" Karin asks suspiciously.

"Giving Lily her homework. She hasn't been at school for about a week." I reply.

"Oh, is she doing alright?" Yuzu asks worriedly.

"Yeah, she should be back in tomorrow, or she'll get into even more trouble." I said as I headed up to my room.

"So, that's why you were late." I hear Rukia say as I enter my room.

I close my door and drop my bag onto my bed. "Yeah, you might see her tomorrow if you're lucky." I say.

"Is she your girlfriend or something?" Rukia asks teasingly.

I stop in mid-step and start laughing hysterically. "You think I like her like that?" I ask as I start to calm down, "Oh God no. She's like a third sister to me. Sure, she's a really nice person, but we're more like brother a sister. I wouldn't dream of dating her."

She gave me a questioningly look, but decides to drop it, "Guess I'll meet her tomorrow."

"Onii-chan, dinner!" I hear Yuzu yell from the kitchen.

"Coming!" I yell down, and then look to Rukia, "I'll get ya dinner later." She just nods her head and sits on the bed she made in my closet as I head down stairs.


	2. And You Are?

--Lily's POV--  
Since yesterday, when Ichi gave me my homework, I've done half of it, but it's the other half that's a pain. Today, I feel a lot better, so I'm heading to school, but not before stopping by Ichi's house with everyone else.

I was the first one to arrive and I spotted Ichi's window. I grabbed a nearby stone and threw it lightly to the glass. I could hear the _ping_ that it made, so I guessed that he could hear it also. After a few seconds, the window opened and I saw Ichi standing there with a confused and slightly angered look. He looked down and saw me grinning and waving at him.

"Hi Ichi." I greeted very happily.

"Hey Lily." he replies sleepily.

"Ready yet?"

"Nah, I just got up."

"Well, get your butt into high gear and get ready."

"Hey, you're the one that got here early."

"Nah ah, I got here on time."

"No, you're, like, a half hour early."

"No I'm not." I look down at my watch, and see that I was there early. I laugh nervously and say, "I guess my clock was off."

"Yeah, I guess so. I'll be down in a little."

"Take your time." I wave as he closes his window to get ready.

I sigh and sit down on the ground, leaning against the neighboring building. I pull out my i-pod and put it on random. Normally I never use it unless I had nothing better to do, but now, I've got nothing better to do. _Might as well try to figure out the rest of the homework. Get it done as fast as possible._ I think as I bring out the papers from my bag. After waiting for about 15 minutes, I see someone walk up. "Hey, Chad." I greet as he walks up.

"Hey Lily, you're back." he says as I walk up to him.

"Yep, and I feel better than ever." I say with a grin.

"That's good. Ichigo still getting ready?"

"Yeah. But he should be done soon."

"How long have you been here?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

I laugh and rub the back of my neck, "Well, that's a long story. I think Granny set my alarm clock a half hour early, and I never look at the clock when I'm getting ready. Soooo, I got here like 20 minutes ago."  
"She did. She started throwing rocks at my window while I was still asleep and I was having a good dream too." We look to the street and see Ichi standing on the sidewalk, with a piece of toast in his mouth, which made him talk in a mumble.

"Hey, I only threw one rock, and it was a tiny one. It made the tiniest of noises. And didn't your mom teach you not to talk with food in your mouth?" I retort.

He just looks at me with the usual sour face and takes a bite out of the toast. "Come on, thanks to Miss. Early Bird, we've got a little extra time to get to school." he says.

"It's not my fault." I say while putting my stuff back into my bag, "I think Granny changed my alarm clock."

"Suurre, blame it on poor Granny." he says sarcastically.

I walked over to him, bag slinged over my shoulder, and gently punched him on the shoulder, "Shut up."  
He just rubs his shoulder a little and starts walking away, finishing up his breakfast. After a few seconds, with him a fair distance away from me, I ran at him and jumped on his back. In order to keep his balance, he had to take a step forward.

"Man, Ichi. This is like a daily routine now." I say to him in disappointment.

"I know, but why do I have to carry you on my back every day to school?" he asks once he gets his composure.

"I like it when you give me piggy-back rides."

He just sighs and starts walking again. I turn around and yelled at Chad, "Come on, time for school." He just starts following and comes up next to the two of us.

After a few minutes of us walking, I ask them, "Ok, what did I miss?"

"Things." Chad says after a few moments of thinking.

I just sigh and say, "I know I missed 'Things', but I need to know what."

"You think I make notes?" Ichi asks in a kinda 'You've-got-to-be-kidding-me' look.

"Well, I know you don't, but maybe I could borrow Orihime's notes, or possibly Tatsuki's?" I say, thinking to myself, with my right hand pointer finger on my chin.

Without telling me, Ichi kinda made me bounce a little to bring me up. It scared me and I wrapped my arms around his neck. "What was that for?" I ask him.

"You were slipping. You wanna fall on your butt?" he says like it was obvious.

"Is there anything new?" I ask the two of them when we were almost there.

"Actually, there is." Ichi says.

"Really? What?" I ask excitedly.

"A transfer student." Chad says.

"Rukia Kuchiki." Ichi says, filling in the info, "She's nice, strange, but nice. I think you'll like her."

We finally reached school and I found Orihime walking towards us. I jumped off of Ichi and ran over to her. I caught her by surprise when I almost ran into her, but instead, brought her into a big hug with my arms around her neck.

"Hi, Orihime. Man, it feels like I haven't seen in forever." I say to her as I pull back.

"It's good that you're feeling better, Lily. It's not good for you to get sick." she says in her strange way, but that's why I liked Orihime so much, she marched to the beat of her own drum.

"Back from the dead I see!" I hear someone yell towards us.

I turn to my right and see, "Tatsuki!"

"Finally you're back. I was beginning to wonder if you were still alive." she says jokingly when she reaches us.

"Of course I'm still here. If I wasn't, Ichi would be completely lost." I tell her.

"But I can't believe that you missed my competition."

"I know, I'm sorry, but I was sick."

"That sick excuse will only work for a little bit."

"That was the first time I used it, and I was sick."

"Well, at least you're feeling better."

Us three link up and start walking to the guys again. But there I see another girl that I haven't seen. She has shoulder length black hair with black eyes and stood at around my height.  
When we got close to them, I broke away from the other two and walked up to the girl. "Hi, you must be Rukia." I say with a smile on my face as I walk up to her. She turned my way when she heard her name and gave me a confused look.

"I'm Lily, and it's nice to have another girl in the group." I say as I stick out my right hand.

She took the hint and shook my hand with a very large grin on her face. It looked almost fake, but I just shook it off. "I hope you've been hearing good things about me." she says with a very polite voice.

"Only the best. Like how you and Ichi are planning on going out."

Suddenly, her eyes grew wide and she turned to Ichi with a very shocked look on her face. I saw Ichi give me an angry look, and gave a slight giggle, "Sorry, kidding, kidding. I'm sorry, I just had to do it." I tell her with my hands up. I then turned to Ichi, "But really Ichi, you're practically surrounded by girls. Be a man and ask one out. Just not me, cause you know that I'll say no."

He just scoffs, crosses his arms, and turns his head away with a sour look. I just smile and gently grab Orihime's and Tatsuki's hands, "Come on, we gotta get to class." And we start walking away.

--Ichigo's POV--  
I sigh and watch Lily walk towards the school, and I notice that Rukia's watching also.

"Does she know?" she asks quietly, making sure no one else heard.

"Don't worry, she doesn't. But she has had some incidents." I tell her.

She turns to me with a confused look.

"She sometimes has these dreams that are really hard to explain, but they would sometimes keep her awake."

She turns back to look at Lily and looks like she's studying her. "Why is she wearing the guy's pants?"


	3. I Never Knew

--Ichigo's POV--  
"Ok, so let me get this straight. She hates skirts that are shorter than her knees and she absolutely refuses to wear them, so she stole your pants and had them tailored to fit her, then she paid for replacements for you." Rukia summarizes what I just said in basically one breath.

I nod my head slowly and say, "Yep. Pretty much."

She sighs and asks me, "Is it even possible to understand what that girl is thinking?"

"I'm trying. And I think I'm almost there. But every time I think I'm close to understanding her, something comes up and I'm back at square one."

Rukia and I were near the windows, while Lily with Inoue and Tatsuki were on the other side of the room, talking about only God knows what. Lily then turns to us and starts to walk over.

--Lily's POV--  
I start walking over to Ichi and Rukia when I noticed that those two were getting kinda close. When I got there, Ichi asks, "What's up?"

"Not much." I say to him, then I turn to Rukia, "Hey, Rukia, are you busy after school?"

"Ummm, I don't think so, why?" she says slightly confused, but with that smile she had on earlier.

"How about you come over to my house. I'm sure Granny would love to meet you." I say as I link my left arm with her right. I then look to Ichi, "You're coming too, right?"

"I guess." he says as he scratches the back of his head.

"Yay, Ichi's coming! I'm gonna see if anyone else will come." I say as I start walking back to the girls to discuss what would happen.

--FF to Lunch--  
Turns out that everyone else was busy, so it was just going to be Rukia, Ichi, and I going to see Granny. The three of us waited on the roof for the rest of the guys, when Rukia pulled out a juice box and looked like she was having trouble opening it. I just kinda watched her while leaning on the railing and sipping out of my water bottle. After a few minutes Ichi was getting just as frustrated as she was and took the box and the straw out of her hands. He had it open in, like, three seconds, if even that, and handed it back to her.

"Have you ever opened a juice box before, Rukia?" I ask her.

She stopped sipping when she replied, "Actually, where I'm from, we don't have juice boxes, so I can't so I have." I don't know if it's just me, but she says things WAY too politely, like it's almost fake and she really has no idea what else to say.

"Really?" I ask, with my head cocked to one side and a confused look on my face.

She merely nods as she returns to drinking.

"I never knew that there was such a place that didn't have juice boxes." I ponder as I look up to the sky.

I then heard the door open and footsteps running towards us. I looked to them and saw the guys coming towards us, but Keigo was the one running.

"Lily!" he yelled as crashed into me with a big hug and his head on the upper part of my chest. "I've missed you so much. Everyone's been so mean while you were away." he says a little over dramatically.

"It's nice to see you, too." I reply with a nervous chuckle.

Then, off to my left side, Ichi's foot came crashing into Keigo's side, causing him to fall off of me and onto the floor. "Hands off, Keigo." Ichi says with his leg still in the air and his hands in his pockets.

"That's so mean Ichigo." Keigo says with tears rolling down his cheeks, "Why do you always get the cute girls to huddle around you?"

Ichi puts his foot down before he replies, "You call them cute?" He points to me, but both Rukia and I know that he meant both of us. I saw Rukia look really steamed, but I was the only one that did something as I ran at Ichi and pushed him down. I then walked on him as I said, "I'm going to the girls." I then looked over to Rukia as I finished walking on him, "Care to join me, Rukia?"

"Yes, I would." she said as she also walked on Ichi and followed me. I heard Ichi give an "oof" when each of us stepped on him and I knew that he was mad at especially me.

Rukia and I walked over to the girls, who were only half way across the roof. I sat down in between Tatsuki and Orihime and Rukia sat on the other side of Orihime.

"What did they do now?" Tatsuki asks with interest as she leans in closer to me.

"Ichi said that we weren't cute." I reply, anger still in my voice.

"Ohhh, it's ok, Lily. You're cute to us." Orihime says in her very sweet voice as she pulls me into a hug.

"Yeah, thanks Orihime." I say as I pull away, "Besides, Ichi's gonna get it when we head home."

--FF After School--  
I was riding on Ichi's back again with Rukia walking next to us. All of us were heading to my house.

"So, Rukia, where do you live?" I ask her, breaking the silence.

"At my house." she says, indicating she wouldn't tell me.

"Ok, fine, don't tell me. And here I am, trying to be nice." I whisper the last sentence.

We soon got to my house and I said, "Ok, Ichi, let's go."

He put me down and we walked through the front door. I could tell that Rukia was very surprised at the size of your house as I noticed that her eyes were slightly wide when we stood there for a minute. When we got into the house, Rukia started to take off her shoes.

"Rukia, you don't have to." I say as I walk towards the stairs with Ichi following me.

"HEY!! GRANNY!! I'M HOME!!" I yell up the stairs.

I heard her coming down the stairs, as well as something a lot lighter. Soon, I saw Granny with a large basket in her hand, showing that she just finished folding laundry, and after her was our little kitten.  
His name is Kyo, and he looks like a miniature tiger, with orange fur and darker orange stripes. He is only about four and a half months, and he is so cute.

When Kyo sees me, he runs past Granny and starts rubbing against my leg.

"Hi there baby." I say as I pick him up, "Yes, I missed you too." I can tell that he was purring. But then, he noticed Ichi.


	4. Killer Kitty

Kyo then meowed, and not in the cute, "I want food" or "I want attention" sort of way, more like "What's HE doing here?" Kyo has never really liked Ichi all that much, I guess it's because he thought that Ichi was trying to steal his human, or that Ichi was another guy. Not sure which. There has been a few times where Kyo did something that almost hurt Ichi, but I'm sure they were all accidents, right? Like the time on the stairs where Ichi was walking down them and Kyo was just lying down on a stair in the middle of the stair way. Ichi stepped over Kyo, but Kyo pounced on Ichi's leg, nearly sending Ichi falling down the stairs. Luckily there was the railing. But Kyo was only trying to play with Ichi, right? It wasn't like Kyo was trying to intentionally hurt Ichi...right?

"Calm down, Baby Boo. Why do you keep on doing that?" I ask Kyo as he still looks right at Ichi. I could tell that Rukia was slightly confused by Kyo's sudden change in attitude.

"This cat is trying to kill me." Ichi says as he looks at Kyo through squinted eyes, watching him closely.

"Oh, is Ichigo scared of a little kitty?" Rukia teases as she warms up to Kyo and scratches under his chin. Kyo purrs in delight, loving having another female scratching the part that he loves the best.

"No, I'm not scared, but he has tried to kill me. He hates me for some reason and he tries to kill me." Ichi replies as he steps up to me and Kyo. He bends down to Kyo's level and looks menacingly at the cat. Without any warning, Kyo tries to take a swipe at Ichi, claws and all, but fails as Ichi pulled back. "Told ya."

"He wasn't trying to hurt you, you were just in his space." I tell Ichi while I scratch Kyo's ear, another place where he likes being scratched.

"Sure, whatever you say. But I'm tellin' ya that that cat is plotting my down fall right now." Ichi says as he points at Kyo with an accusing finger.

I just sighed and put Kyo back on the floor. "Stop being so paranoid. Kyo is only a kitty, so he likes to play, like all other baby animals. And since he is a feline, he likes to play rough. There have been plenty of times where he just comes out of nowhere and attacks my leg." I say to Ichi as I look at him with annoyed eyes. He just huffs and starts to walk to the door.

"Come on Rukia. We should leave." he says as he reaches the front door.

"Are you sure you can't stay?" Granny asks them as Rukia starts walking towards Ichi.

"Yeah, sorry Granny, but we really should be heading home." Ichi replies.

"Alright. I'll see you two maybe tomorrow."

"Maybe. See ya." They both start out the door.

Before Ichi closes it completely, I yell out, "Don't forget to wear a condom, Ichi!"

The door opened widely with a red-faced Ichi yelling, "RUKIA AND I AREN'T TOGETHER, SO SHUT UP!!" He then goes outside and slams the door.

Granny comes up to me and puts one of her hands on my head. "How are you my granddaughter?" she asks to no one, "We are nothing alike."

"I like that. It means that we're both unique, and that's a good thing cause it'll be bad if everyone was exactly the same." I reply.

"I guess that would be true. Now go on and do your homework."

I sigh and say with slight disappointment in my voice, "Alright." The truth was that I never started my homework until after Granny went to bed. I much prefer the silence of the house with only the radio playing softly in the background. Never the less, I headed upstairs to my room and took out all of my work to get it ready for tonight.

--Two Months Later--

I was just getting ready for bed. All the lights were off and Granny was already in bed. Kyo was energetic, like he was every night right before I went to bed. My PJ's were on and my lava lamp shown a green light all across the dark room. As I finished my homework, I yawned, my body telling me to go to sleep. I put all of my things away in my bag and crawled into my warm, soft, comfy bed, ready to fall fast asleep. I turned my radio to a very low volume because any type of music has helped me drift into a deep and peaceful sleep. I closed my eyes as I heard Kyo's rapid footsteps slow down until he came into my room. I sighed contently, knowing all was well, as I drifted off to sleep.

--Renji's POV--

Kuchiki tai-chou and I were walking down the long hallway towards the company one meeting room. The large doors opened widely to welcome the two of us. Across the room was the frail, old woman, who sat crossed-legged on a cushion.

She sighed a tired sigh as we approached her. "Kuchiki tai-chou, Abari fukutai-chou, I have a new assignment for you." she said with a little hesitation in her voice. It didn't feel right. Sure, this is only the third time that I've ever seen her. But she never hesitates, she never thinks twice about something. She's the one that handed out the missions, she's the one that rules over the shinigami, she's the one that can overrule Room 46 as long as all of the tai-chous agreed. She is the queen of Soul Society. It felt wrong to hear her feel like she's regretting giving us this mission. "I'm putting you two in charge of getting Rukia Kuchiki back. But I also have something else for you. I need you to bring them here safely and completely free of harm, but I am allowing you to knock'em out, but try to do it as gently as possible." I could tell that it was this that made her angsty.

"Who are we bringing to you?" Kuchiki tai-chou asks her.

She sighed again before giving her answer.

--Lily's POV--  
--Dream--

Rain. That's all I see. The streetlights flicker. Throwing the area into darkness for a second at a time. Suddenly, it's off, for good. A voice. Or is it Voices? They seem to mix together. The words don't make sense. The yelling starts, then screams. I try to get away, I have to. The rain is cold, making my body temperature drop a degree with every drop of water that touches my skin. My hands covered my ears, in a desperate attempt to stop the screaming and yelling from reaching my ear drums. Finally they stop. Whispering is all I hear. I drop my hands and wrap them around my body, trying to warm myself up. The voice stopped and the streetlight flickered back on, but the rain didn't let up. There was only silence in the air. It was an eerie silence that made chills ran up and down my spine, until there were only a couple words spoken. These, too, I couldn't make out. Then, silence.

--End Dream--

I shot up, cold sweat on my body, my mouth hanging open as I gasped for breath. Then, a shot of pain started in my left arm. I looked down and saw Kyo, looking quite scared at my sudden waking, with his claws digging into my left arm. Blood came out of the small puncture wounds that were made. Kyo soon calmed down and started to walk away, leaving me with a bleeding arm.

I winced at the pain, and made a hissing noise from drawing my breath through my teeth. I press my right hand up against the wounds, trying to slow down the bleeding. I softly get out of bed and head into the hallway. A couple doors down, I stepped into the bathroom and quickly ran my arm under the streaming faucet. All the blood washed away as I grabbed some bandages out of the medicine cabinet. I dried off my arm and wrapped up the wounds. I started walking towards my room, when I felt something that made a chill go down my spine. I felt the urge to look outside, so I quietly moved my way down the two flights of stairs and looked out of one of the windows next to the front door. Rain. Why didn't I hear this before? It seems it hasn't been raining for long. Before I knew it, my shoes were on, I had a raincoat draped over my shoulders, and my umbrella was in my hand. I felt...something, and I had no other choice but to follow it.

It was raining more than I thought it was. My body was growing cold because I was barely wearing any clothes. I shivered and my teeth were getting ready to chatter.

My shoes were getting wet as I walked along the sidewalk to where I felt it. The feeling became more powerful the more I walked. I then soon started running. I don't know why, but I felt like I had to get there quick, where ever that place was. I finally came to a place where the power was almost unbearable, but I knew I had to keep on going.

It wasn't before long that I came upon five figures of people. Two were on the ground, one was holding one up against a light pole, and the other was just standing there. Then I saw it, orange hair. I would know that hair anywhere.  
"Ichi." I said in a whisper. I don't think the other people heard me, cause no one looked up at me. I then started walking up to the people, and the first one to hear my feet splashing in the water was the one that wasn't doing anything, but was still standing. He had long, black hair, which had these white things in them. He was taller than me, but he wasn't as tall as the other guy. The other guy had red hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. I noticed that he had tattoos on his forehead, but I could also see some blood on his face. They were both wearing the same thing, this black...something, that looked like it belonged in a century before ours, like old Japan. The black haired guy looked slightly older than the other guy. I then noticed that the other people where people that I knew. The one still on the ground was Ishida, who I noticed was hanging out with our group of friends for some reason, it's not like I didn't like him, but he seemed like the loner type and he and Ichi didn't really get along together; the other, which was being held up by the red haired guy, was Rukia.

The black haired guy gave me a stoic look, like he didn't even have emotions, and looked at me like I was nothing but a bug. The red haired guy started yelling at Rukia. The one thing that the guy said that caught my ear was, "Forget him!! The boy is dead!!"

My mouth was now hanging open, and with those words, I dropped my umbrella, causing the other guy to look at me and also Rukia. "Lily?" I heard her whisper, then she started to yell, "Lily! Get out of here! NOW!!"

"Ichi...is...dead?" I managed to choke out through and the tears that were falling out of my eyes, "How...how can...Ichi be...dead?" I whispered "dead" every time I said it, not believing it. Ichi couldn't be dead. He had promised so many times that he would always be there for me. To protect me. The help me with anything. To...just be there. "No," I said as I shook my head, "no, no, no. Ichi can't be dead." I looked down at Ichi's form, it was then that I saw that he was wearing the same thing as those other guys. I've never seen him wear anything like that. What's going on? The last question came out of your mouth.

"Lily, just get out of here!" Rukia yelled at me again. The red haired one let go of her and let her drop to the floor.

"Kuchiki tai-chou, isn't she her?" he asked the other guy. Kuchiki, isn't that Rukia's last name?

The other guy nodded his head just a little as the red haired one walked up to me.

"Leave her alone." I heard a voice say. I looked to Ichi's body and saw that one of his hands was grabbing onto this Kuchiki guy's pant leg. My mind filled with hope as I thought, _Ichi's alive._

"We can't." the black haired guy said in a monotone voice that still demanded respect. His voice was so weird for me, it was completely void of emotion and that just scared me.

The red haired guy continued advancing towards me and I started backing away from him. "Leave me alone. Leave all of us alone." I said in just a whisper.

Suddenly, the black haired guy was standing right in front of me. It happened in a split second, I didn't even see him pick up his feet, let alone move. "Like I said, we can't." Again, his voice was hard and icy. I then felt a sharp pain on the back of my neck and I heard some screaming and yelling, but they were so soft, like something was blocking my hearing. Then everything was, black.

When I woke up, all I saw was a clothed back. I realized that I was upside down and I looked up and saw red hair pulled back in a ponytail. I then remembered what happened before I blacked out. I started screaming and yelling, "Put me down!!" again and again as I pounded on the guys back. He was trying his best to keep me in place, but I was moving too much to hold me on his shoulder for much longer. He then rolled me off his shoulder and held me in his arms, one under my back and the other under my knees(aka bridal style, but here I'm not gonna call it that cause, well, this situation isn't like that).

"I can't, now shut up." he replied in an aggressive tone.

"No, now put me down."

"I said I can't. Shut up."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes, or I'll make you."

"No, and I don't care what you do. I'll just keep on talking."

"Lilian Hana Takashi. Be quiet." a voice said. I knew that voice anywhere. I looked to where it came from.

"Granny...?"


	5. It Was Her

I stared in shock at the woman sitting in front of me. "Granny?" I asked again, making sure that that was her. She just looked at me with a face that I didn't know. It was harsh and cold. This wasn't my Granny. My Granny was always nice and had a smile on her face. This wasn't her.

"Ok, Renji, you can put her down." she told the red haired guy, who is now Renji.

He did put me down, just not gently. He just dropped me, and I landed on my butt. "Hey." I complained to him while wincing in pain.

"Lilian, be quiet and don't make me say it again." Granny said once more. I looked over to her again, but I still couldn't recognize her as MY grandmother, she looked the same, but there was something really off about her. She then motioned her finger, telling me to come to her. I stood up and walked over to her. She then pointed her finger down, telling me to sit, which I did. "Lily, there's a lot of things that I have to tell you." She then sighed and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, like what the hell's going on here?" I ask in shock, still having no idea on how to cope with this.

She raised her hand, telling me to shut up and said, "Yes, that's one of them. But first, I'll tell you where you are. Soul Society."

I just looked at her like she was insane, but she had a very serious look on her face. "And what is this 'Soul Society'?" I ask.

"It's where people go when they die."

"But you haven't died, you're still alive, and so am I. So, why are we here?"

"That, I'll tell you on a later date. Now, Renji, show her her room." she said to me and Renji. I saw Renji give a small bow to Granny as she stood up leaving the room. I also noticed that that Kuchiki tai-chou person was leaving.

"Ok, come on." Renji said to me as he walked up behind me. I was still in shock. Here I was, in a strange place, where I had no idea what was going on, and the one person I trusted my entire life, was not giving me any answers. I stayed seated, not wanting to get up, when Renji gently grabbed the top of my arm and pulled me up to my feet. "Come on, we don't have all day."

"Isn't it night?" I asked, being a smart-ass. He just scoffed and pulled me in the opposite direction that Granny went. I let him pull me, not knowing where I was going.

He stopped in front of a door and said, "This is your room. It has all of your stuff in it, including that stupid cat." He said the last part in a whisper.

I looked up at him, and just started crying. I don't know, but for some reason, him saying that reminded me of Ichi and how much Ichi hated Kyo. Renji gave a shocked look, then began to panic while I went to the floor, holding my hands against my eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't cry. I'm gonna get into trouble." he said, panic in his voice.

I just continued balling, ignoring his request. "I just sniff wanna go sniff home." I managed to say through all the tears, "I wanna go back to school and with all my friends and with Ichi." (pretend that you're still crying, I just don't like to add all the sniff's and stuff)

Renji managed to calm down from his state and crouched down next to me. "Wouldn't you rather stay here? You'll be treated as royalty. Wouldn't that be better than staying in a dumpy school?" he said, trying to calm me down.

"NO!!" I yelled at him, still crying.

Renji sighed and scratched his head, trying to find another way that would shut me up. He kneeled down beside me, his hand still on the back of his head. "Look, maybe, that guy is still, I don't know, alive, somehow." he says, trying anything to just shut me up so he won't get into trouble.

My crying slowed down, but tears still came out, as I looked up to him to see him looking away to the opposite wall. "Really?" I asked, feeling somewhat better.

"Maybe. But it would be a VERY small chance." he replies, using his index and middle finger to show how much "a VERY small chance" would be.

I just lost it as I tackled him with a hug and hung my arms around his neck, my head resting on his chest, and crying my eyes out. _Ichi might be alive!_ I thought to myself.

--Renji's POV--

She grabbed me, and I had NO idea what to do. She was crying, in happiness or sadness, I don't know, and was hugging me around my neck. Maybe she was happy. I didn't know what to do, so I just started patting the top of her head as she continued crying. I then heard footsteps, which she must've not heard, cause she was still grabbing onto me for dear life. I looked in the way that they were coming from and I saw none other than her majesty. She was quickly approaching and Lily wasn't letting go of me. I started to panic. What else could a guy do. I was looking around, for any type of escape, but it was too late.

"Renji?" her majesty asked me, with one of her eyebrows high. She was looking at the position that Lily and I were in, and it was very awkward. She had her head on my chest and in between both of my legs, and she was crying. She was waiting for an answer, and I really didn't have one.

"Well...you see...I...then she...and I was...but she started...IT WAS HER!" I reply, pointing at Lily.

Then, something very unexpecting happened, her majesty was stifling a giggle. I looked at her confused and shocked. "It's alright Renji, I understand. She's been through a lot in the last few hours."

I relaxed just a bit. I still kept my tight composure, making sure I didn't fall to the floor, but I did let out an sigh in relief. Her majesty walked up to me, well, mostly Lily, and patted Lily's head, saying, "Come on Lil, time to go to bed." She gently pulled a still crying Lily off of me and I immediately stood up. Lily was now clinging to her grandmother, tears still flowing down her cheeks, as she gasped a little for air.

--Lily's POV--

I clung to Granny like a little kid trying not to get lost in an amusement park, choking on my own tears.

"Come on sweetie, you'll see that everything here will be just fine." Granny says to me. Then she turns to Renji, "You can go now. I'm sure Kuchiki tai-chou is waiting."

"Hai." is all he says before bowing to Granny and then he started walking away. I watch his fading back when I heard Granny open the door to my new bedroom. Instantly, Kyo came right out and started rubbing against my legs.

"I missed you too, baby." I say as I pick him up and hold him like a baby. I hear him purring as I rub his head and scratch under his chin. I walk into the room and see that it looked almost exactly like the one back home. The only big difference was that the wall style and the two windows were done in this meiji era style. In other words, kinda old, but it still looked really cool. "When did you do all of this?" I ask Granny, who was behind me, watching from the doorway.

"Mainly while you were knocked out." she says. I sighed at how calm she was about this whole thing. I might not have shown it, but I was pretty much freaking out. I was wondering what was gonna happen to everyone, and more importantly, if Ichi was Ok.


	6. Just Ignore Me

--The Next Day--

I was lying on my new bed, with my old PJ's on. I didn't sleep a wink last night because I was so worried that someone else was going to kidnap me. All night I was either scratching Kyo, watching him sleep, playing with him, or reading; in other words, I was bored out of my mind. Last night, Granny said that she would send for someone to call me to breakfast this morning. That will be really weird, I'm so used to Granny just calling up the stairs. Right now, Kyo was asleep because we just finished playing with one of his toys; and I was reading one of the many books I kept in my room. Most of them were fiction...All right, fine, all of them were fiction. What can I say? I get bored reading about something that ACTUALLY happened. I heard a knock on the door and I said out, "Come in."

A woman wearing one of those black robes, which I learned was called a shihakusho, opened the door. "Her majesty is waiting for you. I'll show you the way." she said to me with a very stern voice. I've heard people call Granny "her majesty", which I kinda get now that I know that she's the queen, but it still sounded wrong. It even made my spine tingle every time I reminded myself that Granny was a queen.

I nodded my head and stood up, marking my place, and started following her. We soon came into this big room, with a long table. Granny sat on the opposite side that we entered and there was a place setting at the end where we were. The woman left, leaving Granny and I in the room. She looked up at me and motioned me to sit down. I did and just looked at the table. It had food on it, and a lot of it. I grabbed the first thing, which was an apple, and took a large bite out of it. Some of the juice rolled down the corners of my lips to my chin. I heard Granny sigh in slight disgust and asked, "Do I have to teach you etiquette lessons again?" Yes, she taught me how to behave properly in public and stuff, but I thought that at home, I could act anyway I wanted, and she never told me off before, and I thought this was home now. But apparently not. I took the napkin and wiped off the juice, and then took a smaller, more lady-like bite out of the apple. "Thank you." Granny says as she grabs her own food.

Then, out of nowhere, this guy shows up, like he teleported or something. I freaked out and ended up falling to the ground. My back was against the ground and my legs still stayed on the chair. Granny acted like it never happened and said to the man, "Yes?" I knew that the guy noticed because he hesitated before answering. I didn't even bother listening because I knew that it had nothing to do with me.

He stopped, if only for a second, and that's where I said, "Yeah, fine, just ignore me: The girl that fell onto the floor on her head and now probably has a concussion." Ok, so I didn't have a concussion, but I wanted Granny to feel guilty about this.

"You don't have a concussion!" she yelled towards me, "Please, continue." she said nicely to the man. Remarkably, I was still holding onto the apple. "I'll show you to ignore me." I whisper to myself before I took a very large bite out of the apple.

I then heard the door closest to me slide open. I looked and saw that it was none other than Renji and that Kuchiki tai-chou dude. Kuchiki came in first and just took a single glance at me. _Well, he's not very nice._ I think as I look at him leave my sight. When Renji came in, well that's a different story. When he first saw me, he looked very shocked, then started laughing at my current state.

"Shut up, I fell." I say to him with a frown on my face, "That guy scared me." I pointed to where I think that that first guy was.

"You better start getting used to it, Hime-sama." he replied, a smirk plastered on his face.

I give him a bigger frown, before I realized what he said. When I did, I sat straight up and looked to Granny, shock all across my face. "What?!"

Granny looked at me, with mild irritation and said, "What is it now?"

"I'm a princess?!"

"Yes. I told you that I was queen. Wouldn't it just make sense that you were a princess?"

"No, no, no. This can't be. I can't be a princess!"

"Why not? You wanted to be one when you were younger."

"Yeah, when I was FIVE! Things change Granny. I don't wanna be a princess, especially a real one!"

She sighs and looks down at her plate. "Go to your room. I have to talk to these two." she tells me.

"Gladly." I reply, standing up. I walk out the door and head to my room. When I reached it, I opened to door and closed it quickly once I got in, because I didn't want Kyo getting out. I heard him meow and saw that he was on my bed trying to fall asleep and he was mad that I disturbed that peacefulness. "Sorry, baby." I say as I walk up to my bed.

As I laid on my bed, I began thinking. What happened to my friends? Are they worried about me? Or did they forget that I ever existed? What about Ichi? Was he still alive? Or was Renji lying to make me feel better and Ichi was really dead and I would never see him again? I hated questions like these, ones that made me depressed. I never wanted to be sad because of something Ichi said to me when we were younger, after three of our parents died. He said that he never wanted to see me sad again, so he would protect me to keep me happy. And I told him that as long as he was around, I'd never be sad. Well, now, I just wanted to cry. I didn't know if Ichi was alive or not. But if he was, he wouldn't like to see me like this. _Gotta stay positive._ I told myself, _Ichi's still alive, I can feel it._ Truth was, I was completely clueless, and I just didn't want to admit that to myself. I wanted the false hope that Ichi would be coming for me and Rukia really soon. And that we would be together again, and that maybe I could get Ichi to ask Rukia out. Those two had a big connection and I think they would be good together, but being as stubborn as those two are, they would never admit it.


	7. Shopping?

Kyo walked up to me and lied down on my stomach, making it hard for me to breath. "Ok, Kyo, off." I say to him. He still didn't move. "Move, Kyo." I say more sternly. Nothing. I sigh and sat up, watching him tumble down, but still landing on his feet. I saw that he was mad at me, but started walking away and over near the window. It was really the first time that I noticed that window. It was the only one in the room and it was covered with wooden shades. I walked up to it and opened up the blinds. Outside, it was really bright and everything looked white. What really surprised me was that everything looked the same. I really couldn't tell the difference between all of the buildings. I shut the blinds and looked around the room. Last night, I didn't really pay any attention to anything in here except the desk and chair off the the left side, and the bed which was on the right side. The walls were like every other that I've seen, sort of off-white with the oak on the bottom, I think it's oak. The bed was a good size, it was bigger than the one back home, and it was covered with white sheets and a light blue bedspread. I noticed two sliding doors, one next to the bed and the other next to the desk. I first walked over to the one next to the bed. I opened it and noticed that it was a closet with all of my clothes. I flipped through them, wondering what I should wear for today, when I remembered about the other door. I walked across the room and opened it up. I saw a tiled bathroom with all of my stuff in it and ready to be used. I then remembered that the last time that I took a shower was yesterday morning. I went back to the closet and picked out an outfit and brought it into the bathroom. I turned on the shower and waited for it to warm up. Once it was to my liking, I stepped in and took a shower.

After I stepped out, I felt so good. I felt clean and refreshed, and just plain better. I saw Kyo sleeping on my bed and I just sigh at his form. Normally, cats curl up into a little ball and just look so cute. Not Kyo. He likes to stretch out, stomach up, and all four limbs stretched out. "Oh, Kyo, what am I going to do with you?" I ask his sleeping form. Of course, he didn't do anything but continue his sleeping. I sat down on my bed and continued drying off my hair. The one thing that they forgot was my hairdryer. I get back to the bathroom and grab my hair brush.

After awhile I was beginning to wonder, what the hell is going on?

--Granny's POV--

I sat at my desk when I heard the door open. Hitsugaya tai-chou and his fukutai-chou, Matsumoto, walked in with two armfuls of paperwork. I was beginning to wonder when they would turn that in.

"Good morning, Majesty. I apologize for being late." Hitsugaya says as he placed his shared of the hold onto my desk, "It's just someone was too busy sleeping." He gave a glare to his fukutai-chou who was setting down her pile.

"What? I've had many late nights lately." she says in her defense.

"Yeah, drinking." her tai-chou scoffed as he crossed his arms and looked away from her.

After scoffing at her tai-chou, Matsumoto turned to me. "Anyways, Majesty, is it true that your granddaughter is really here?" she asks with sparkles in her eyes.

"Yes, she's here. She came in last night." I reply as I flip through and pounds of paper that just came onto my desk.

Matsumoto then became a little depressed, "So, she's probably tired and doesn't want to see anyone?"

I look at her over the top of my reading glasses. "The day she becomes tired and not want to see anyone, is the day of my death. She is hyper until she falls asleep." She becomes happy again.

"Majesty, if you have nothing for me, I would like to show her around. You know, she's never been here and she might want to know where everything is, so that she doesn't get lost."

I look over to Hitsugaya. "I have nothing planned for you, unless you have something for her?" I ask the last part to her tai-chou.

"She's free." he says shortly.

"sigh Alright. You may. But don't expect her to be nice to you. She's in a foul mood." I tell her as I continue to flip through the papers.

She kind of squeals and claps her hands once. "Thank you, thank you. And I promise you that by the end of the day, I'll have turned that frown, upside down." she says with a large grin on her face. She then turns around and almost skips out of the room.

Hitsugaya sighs at the immaturity of his fukutai-chou and holds his head up with a hand. "Please excuse her. Seems that she can't contain her happiness."

"Don't worry about it. I've dealt with it so far. But I think that she only has lowered my life span by about five years." I reply.

He chuckles, seeing truth in what I said. He then begins to wonder why I haven't dismissed him. "May I leave?" he asks me.

"Not yet. I want you to be here when Matsumoto realizes that she has no idea where Lily's room is."

"She doesn't know?" he asks, wide-eyed.

"Nope. And I just thought it would make your day to see that."

"Yeah, I guess it would." After a small moment of silence, he asks, "Her name is Lily?"

"Yes, her mother was mainly European. So, her first name is English, while her middle and last are Japanese."

"Hm." he says in understanding as he nods his head a little.

I then heard the door open a little and I saw Matsumoto's head poke into my office. "Heh heh heh. Where exactly is her room?" she asks nervously and feeling embarrassed.

I tell her the directions to Lily's room and she thanks me and heads back out. "Now, you may go, Hitsugaya tai-chou."

He bowed to me, but before he left, he said, "You were right, that did make my day."

I smiled at him as he left my office. Then got back to the paperwork that was on my desk.

--Lily's POV--

I sat on my bed and pulled out one of my books, when I heard a knock on the door. I looked up and grunted in frustration before answering, "Yes?"

The door opened and revealed a beautiful woman. She wore a shihakusho like everyone else, but unlike the woman from earlier, she had a katana on her hip. Her blonde hair was wavy and went down her back and her eyes were a sparkling blue. I also noticed something else about her. She was, how do I say it? A little, no scratch that, a lot busty. I mean, she was nearly completely spilling out of her top. "Good morning, Hime-sama." she greets with a large grin on her face.

When she said that, I flopped down onto my bed with a groan. She then looked at me with worry. "Are you alright, Hime-sama? Do I need to take you to the fourth company?" she asks as she approaches me.

"No." I tell her simply, "I'm not alright, but don't take me to the fourth company, whoever they are."

"Well, if you're not feeling well, Hime-sama, we should really have it checked."

"Don't call me Hime-sama. I hate it. Call me by my name: Lily."

"You don't want to be a princess. But isn't it a girl's dream to be one?"

"Yeah, when I was five. That was ten years ago. I just wanna go home."

"I'm sorry, but we can't do that."

"So I've heard." I say to her with a glare.

She became nervous. "Well, good news, I'm going to show you around." she tells me.

That was good news? "And, who are you exactly?" I ask her as she sits herself down on my bed.

"Oh, sorry about that. I'm Rangiku Matsumoto, the fukutai-chou of the tenth company." she says with a nervous smile. "Alright," she says, regaining her composure, "Let's get moving." She then grabs my arm and pulls me out of bed.

"Hey, wait." I almost yell to her. She stops and looks back at me with a confused look. "I need to put on my shoes." I tell her.

"Oh, right, shoes. Gotta have those on." she says, giving off another nervous laugh as she releases me from her grasp and allows me to slip on my shoes.

After I finished, she grabbed my wrist again and proceeded to dragging me out of the safety of my room, leaving me to close it after we left. She continued to pull me along the hallway, while ahead of us I spotted a little kid with white hair going the opposite way of us. When passing him, Rangiku says quickly to him, "See ya later, tai-chou."

I noticed he had wide eyes as we passed him, but when I looked back after passing him, the initial shock wore off and he sighed while shaking his head. Seemed like he was used to her overwhelming personality. Wait, he was her tai-chou? But he's only a kid.

We soon came outside, and it looked like what I saw outside my window.

"Here we are, Soul Society." Rangiku says enthusiastically.

"Yeah, Ok. Now I'm going back inside." I say as I turn around.

She then grabs the back of my collar. "But wait. I still have to show you the best places to eat, and the best places to shop." she says happily. Man, was she ever unhappy?

The last word caught my ears. "Shopping?" I question her, looking over at her.

"Yes, shopping." she says, seeing that that sparked a little interest in me, "And if you're nice, I'm sure Her Majesty would lend you money so that you could go shopping."

That brought me down. "Ugh. Don't call her that."

"What? Her Majesty?"

"Yes, that. Don't call her that. It sounds so weird to hear her called 'Her Majesty'. I've always just called her Granny."

"Oh, that's so cute!" she squeals in delight. I just sigh and drop my head.

I lifted my head after a few seconds and said, with dislike in my voice, "Alright, let's get this over and done with." I then start walking in a random direction, when she grabs onto my collar again.

"No, no, no. We're heading this way first." she says as she drags me in the opposite way that I was headed.

After what seemed like hours of nothing but walking and listening to Rangiku talk about the different buildings, also she would complain about working in the tenth company and working under someone who looked like they belonged in middle school.

I soon became tired and tried to get Rangiku to stop talking long enough to tell her that I was ready to go back to the building that I was staying at. I still can't call it home. As she was drawing breath to continue her long winded speech, I found the perfect opportunity. Before she could begin talking again, I started, "Umm, Rangiku-san, I'm sorry, but I'm feeling tired. So, could we please go back now." I plead with her.

"But, but. There's still so much more to show you. Soul society is a very big place." she replied with a plea of her own.

I groaned and showed my exhaustion by falling to the floor, but still sitting upright. "Pleeeeaaasse, Rangiku-san." I pleaded with big eyes and a pout.

She sighed, knowing she couldn't resist my puppy dog pout. "Alright." She then became happy and hyper again. "Maybe I'll have tomorrow off too. Then we could continue and I could show you even greater places." she says happily with a clap.

I groaned in my head as I stood up and waited for her to show me the way back. She finally started and showed me the way back to the big building where I was now living. She also showed me back to my room, and before she left she said, "See ya tomorrow, Lily-chan." Then she skipped out and closed the door behind her.

I laid back down on my bed and looked at Kyo, who was right next to me. He didn't even move since the last time that I was in the room. I then began to pet him as I told him, "You're so lucky that you're a cat, Kyo." He just started to purr in response. I laughed lightly before I said, "Yeah, you spoiled kitty."


	8. Zanpakuwhat?

--FF The Next Day--

A blinding light hit my closed eyelids as I was fast asleep. It wasn't the best sleep that I've had, but it was better than none at all. I squinted my eyes, trying to keep the light for getting in, but it didn't work.

"Wake up, Lily." I hear a familiar voice call, "We have a busy day."

"Huh?" I question groggily as I slowly open my eyes to see Granny standing over me.

"Come on. Get up, get dressed, and are you going to eat more than an apple today for breakfast?"

"Maybe." I say as I rub my eyes and sit up, "And what do you mean, 'We have a busy day'?"

"Well, first, we have to have you measured for a shihakusho."

"Wait. You mean those black and white clothes that everyone else is wearing?"

"Yes, why?"

"Then no. There's no way that I'm wearing one of those. They look weird."

"Oh, no. You're wearing one. I'm not going to have you sticking out like a sore thumb around here. And besides, it's the uniform for a shinigami."

"I don't care about standing out. It's what I'm best at. And I've never agreed to be a shinigami."

"Too bad. It's in your blood, and you can't change what you are, no matter how hard you try."

"Watch me."

She sighed as she closed her eyes and shook her head slightly. "Just get ready. You remember where the dining room is?" I nod my head. "Meet me down there in fifteen." She then left my room and closed the door.

I yawned and threw the covers off of me. I stood up and walked over to the bathroom to get ready. I went to the dining room and saw Granny sitting in the same seat that she was in the day before. I sat down in my chair and grabbed a muffin. "What exactly are we doing today?" I ask her.

"I'll explain it more later." Granny says, not even looking at me.

I sighed as I took a bite from the muffin. Granny changed a lot since I was brought to Soul Society. She used to be nice, kind, caring, and would always help me when I needed it, unless it was homework. Now, she's...just different. She's colder, and didn't really talk to me. She really hasn't explained anything to me. Rangiku has been a bigger help than Granny has. _I wish the old Granny was back._ I think to myself.

I soon noticed her stand up as she said, "Ready?" I just nodded my head, even though I really wasn't, and stood up as she walked by me to the door behind me. I soon followed her and we both left the building and out onto the streets.

--Rangiku's POV--

"But-but-but..." I complain to Histugaya tai-chou as he was sitting in his chair behind his desk, not bothering to even look up at me.

"No buts," he replies, still not looking, "I let you wander off yesterday. And I'm not doing any of your work."

"You're so cold!" I whine as I slump to the floor, "And I didn't even finish the tour with Lily-chan."

He then looks up from his work, surprised, "Lily...-chan? Why would you call her that?"

"She said that she didn't like formalities, and she didn't want to be a princess, and that I should call her by her first name. I have permission."

He shook his head slightly before looking back down at his work. "Even if I did let you have today off, you still couldn't finish your little tour. I heard that Her Majesty was taking Hime-sama on some errands. Mainly to get her zanpaku-to."

"Ohh, I REALLY can't wait to see that."

--Lily's POV--

I walked beside Granny as we made our way through the streets. One major thing that I noticed was that every time we walked by someone, they would bow, but it was to mainly Granny. Then she would just nod at them, then they would do what they were doing before. It was all just really weird.

We reached a shop and Granny walked in as I followed right behind her. Inside were two women, who immediately lead us to the back to get my measurements. They had me stand on a little pedestal thing and hold my arms out. The worst part about it was that I had to stand completely straight and still the entire time.

"I hate standing straight." I whine to Granny, "It makes my back all weird."

"No, slouching makes your back all weird. Keeping it straight helps it." Granny replies before turning to one of the ladies.

I took this opportunity to turn to the lady that was taking my measurements. "Um, excuse me."

"Yes, Hime-sama?" she replied. I nearly cringed, but was able to hold it back.

"Um, you normally make the sleeves to the wrists, right?"

"Yes. We do." she replies, confused to where I was getting at.

"Can you please make them to, like, the tips of my thumbs, please?" I ask, showing her.

"Of course, Hime-sama." Ok, that time, it took a lot more effort not to show my disgust for the title, but I managed to look unfazed.

"Thanks." Then I went to my original position, right before Granny turned back. I didn't want her to know about my little request because I just knew that she would have a fit if she found out that I wasn't sticking to the rules.

Soon after, Granny and I left the shop and were heading the way that we came. "Where are we going now?" I ask her, hands in my pockets as I lazily walked next to her.

"You are going home."

I stopped and gave her a very shocked and confused look. "What?! I thought we were doing these errands together."

"I want to do this part on my own. It's very important. But don't worry, I'll only be gone for about fifteen minutes." she said without stopping.

I had to jog a little to catch back up to her. When I did, I still had the shocked look on my face as I said, "What are you getting anyway?"

"It's called a zanpaku-to."

"A zanpaku-what?"

"It's the swords that shinigami carry around. You will be getting yours today."

"You said that it's important, and yet I can't go to get it. Why are you so mean to me?"

"I want it to be a surprise for you."

I knew she was lying, but that would be the only answer she would give me if I kept on asking, so I gave up. I let my face relax and stuffed my hands back into my pockets.

When we got back to the building that Granny called "home", she lead me back to my room and told me to stay there until she came back.

I laid down on my bed as Kyo walked up to me and laid down next to me, his head lining up with mine. I turn to him and say, "You're so lucky to be a cat. I wish I was one."

He didn't reply, but just stared at me like he always did. I turned onto my back and stared up into the ceiling with my hands behind my head. Soon, I fell into a deep sleep.

--Granny's POV--

I walked through the hallways on my way to Lily's room, coming back from the zanpaku-to maker. He told me that I could not open it, that only Lily was supposed to. This didn't make since to me, but I honored his wishes and I will wait until Lily opens it and takes out the blade. The maker gave me a box that contained the sword, but the box was very strangely shaped. It wasn't long at all, it was very short like a dagger. And it was a wide box. I wondered what exactly was in there, but I was able to restrain myself from looking in it.

I reached Lily's room and knocked twice. I didn't hear an answer, so I opened it very carefully. Inside, I saw Lily lying on her bed, fast asleep. I smiled lightly at her sleeping figure and decided to let her sleep because she hasn't gotten a lot since she came to Soul Society. I gently placed the box on her desk and walked out quietly. I could wait a day to see exactly what powers her zanpaku-to possessed.

--Lily's POV--

--Dream--

My eyes opened to a bright light. The place I was laying to felt different from my bed, but it was still pretty comfy. When my eyes adjusted to the sudden light, I got a good look around my surroundings, and they defiantly weren't my room.

It was a lush garden, filled with fragrant flowers, shrubs, trees, and grass. In front of me were pure white buildings that looked like they belonged in ancient Rome or Greece. I stood up and walked up to the structures to get a closer look at them. I noticed that they had black veins all throughout it, which told me that it was made of marble. I enjoyed the feel of the marble columns when I heard a voice.

"Well, hello there Lily."

I turned around and saw two men. They looked to be identical twins, but I could still see many differences between the two. They both had bright blue eyes and light blonde hair, but one had slightly longer hair than the other, and they were both the same height. They both wore white toga-like clothes that partly showed off their torsos, and they had on sandals to protect their feet. The main difference between the two was their facial expressions. The one with shorter hair looked more peaceful and softer and he had a gentle smile on his face, and I knew that he was the one that called my name. The one with the longer hair had a tougher appearance and didn't really look too happy of my presence.

I started to back away from them, frightened by their sudden appearance. "How do you know my name?" I asked them.

"We're supposed to." the other twin stated, like it was an obvious fact, "It's your fault that you don't know us."

The first twin looked to his brother in a slight fury, "Brother, be nice to her. This is the first time that she's seen us. Besides, she hasn't even seen our other forms."

The tougher of the two just scoffed and said, "Whatever." as he turned away slightly.

The nicer one turned back to me, but with a softer expression on his face, as he said, "I apologize for my brother. He's not really the polite type."

Me, still in my shocked, dazed, and confused world, had only one thing to say, "Who are you?"

The softer one gently hit his head with his palm as he said, "Oh, that's what I was forgetting. How stupid of me to not introduce myself."

His brother intervened, "Don't tell her our names!" he yelled at his, dare I say, better half, "She doesn't deserve to hear them. She isn't strong enough." He then passed a glare onto me, which caused me to hide behind the pillar that I was standing next to.

"We don't know that Brother." the other said to his brother, then turned back to me, "My name is ."

I knew he said his name, but it was all static and I couldn't make it out. Apparently they noticed my even more confused expression. They one that said his name looked slightly depressed, while the other looked somewhat confident and had a look that said "I was right, and you were wrong."

"See? I told ya that she wouldn't hear us." he said to his brother.

"I guess you're right. But I know that she'll hear them soon. Real soon." the other replied, looking hopeful.

"Yeah right. When pigs fly." he scoffed again as he gave me a cold stare, "She doesn't even deserve to wield us in battle, I doubt she's even seen a battle let alone be in one. Look at her. She's scrawny, she barely has any muscle at all. I bet that she can't even hold a sword properly."

The other one noticed my face go from bad to worse at his brother's comments. To stop his twin's rant, he heavily stomped on his brother's foot. And as his brother howled in pain, he walked up to me. I was still slightly frightened of the two, so I slowly moved more behind the pillar. "Don't worry Lily, I won't hurt you. I will protect you at all costs." he says with a gentle smile on his lips, "Though I can't really say the same for my brother. Who knows what's in that empty head of his." he says, trying to calm me down with a joke. It worked because I giggled slightly and moved more out of the way of the column. "Don't listen to him, Lily, I'm sure that you're going to become an excellent fighter. I can just see it."

"Thanks." I say as I looked up at him. He was probably about six to seven inches taller than me, but he didn't intimidate me at all. He had a very calm and serene aura about him that made him seem very likeable and friendly.

"Don't get that stupid little girl's hopes up. That would only mean that she will crash farther when she realizes that she is just a weakling." the other twin yelled to his brother.

The one I was speaking to simply smiled down at me and said, "You should probably go back home now, Lily. I wouldn't want you to see what I'm going to do to my dear brother."

I nodded my head, but then a question came to my head, "Yeah, but how do I..." Then everything turned black.

--End Dream--

I shot up, panting from the dream. I looked around, seeing that I was back in my room and on my bed. I looked to the clock and saw that it was three in the morning. I also felt something different about the room. I looked to my desk and saw a small box that gave off an energy that was the same as the twins that I met in my dream. I got off the bed and carefully walked over to it. I carefully lifted off the lid and inside I saw two almost identical daggers crossing each other halfway down their blades. The only difference between the two daggers was their handles. The primary color of one of them was white, while the other was black. The blades were pretty short, only about five-six inches, but I saw something on them. It was a single Roman numeral, I, and both blades had the same one.

I then remembered what one of the twins said in my dream. Something about other forms, and wielding them. Were they talking about these daggers? Were these simple blades really those twins?

I guess I would have to wait to find out.


	9. Nice Outfit

I went to sleep right after that, but found myself waking up soon after. It was about 5:30 the second time, and I saw the orange and red sun rays barely come through the window as the sun was just beginning to rise.

I sat up in bed and took a quick look around my room. I saw Kyo sleeping on the chair by the desk, but other than that, everything was in the place where it was before I went to bed. I swung my legs over after I lifted the sheets off of me. I rubbed my eyes tiredly as I began to stand up. I suddenly had to hold on to the wall because I got a sudden and painful wave through the back of my neck.

Once I had regain myself once again. I headed to the bathroom and took a long shower to calm my nerves about the two daggers that laid innocently on my desk. As the warm water washed over my body, I thought, _Were those guys from my dream really those daggers?_

Finally she gets it! I hear a voice say that sounded oddly familiar.

I tried to cover myself up as I looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. "Wh-who's there?" I ask out, shaking slightly.

Now look at what you've done, brother. You scared her. I hear an equally familiar, but different voice say.

_Oh my God. I think I'm going insane._ I think as I look again around the room, still not finding anything or anyone.

You've been insane even before you met us. the first voice says in a kinda low mumble.

I pout a little when I hear this, but then I turn off the shower and walk out, while wrapping a towel around me. I slowly walk into my room and look around. I spot the two daggers that lay on my desk. They just sat there exactly where they were when I placed them down. They just looked like daggers. I walked up to him and gently touch the handle of the black one.

Suddenly, I heard a knock on my door that made me jump and back away from the desk.

"Lily, can I come in?" I hear a very familiar voice say.

"Um, yeah, sure Granny." I reply, still a little shaky, as I tighten the towel.

The door opens up slowly and I see Granny gradually come into the room and close the door behind her. "Good morning, Lily. How was your night?"

"Ok." I sort of lie.

She then looks over to my desk and sees the daggers. "So, this is it. Your zanpaku-to?"

"I guess."

"Hm. They're small. And there's two of them." She talks about it like it was strange.

"Yeah, I guess they are."

She gingerly touched the blade of the dagger with the white handle, but not the edge of it. When she lifted her hand from it, she started talking, "I need you to come with me. You need to bring these two also."

I looked at her very confused. "Umm, Ok. Can I get dressed first though?" I ask her.

She looks up and looks at me like this was the first time she noticed that I was only in my towel. Actually, I think it was. "Oh, yes, of course. I'll be waiting out here." she replies as she heads out the door.

When she closes the door, I sigh in relief, like I was holding my breath the entire time. I then grabbed a top (you chose color) and a pair of jeans. I look suspiciously at the daggers and walk into the bathroom. I got changed and pulled my hair into a ponytail. I walked out and up to the daggers. I held them once more and looked down into the box that held them before. I noticed two bumps underneath the cotton that protected the blades. I lifted up the layer and saw two twin black sheaths that I guessed carried the twin daggers.

They were made of black leather and both had the roman numeral I pressed into them, like the blades did.

I put down one of the blades and picked up one of the sheaths. I gently began to slide the blade into the sheath. Fit like a glove. I then put that down and picked up the other blade and sheath and fitted them together.

It was when I heard a knocking on my door that I remembered that Granny was waiting for me on the other side. "Almost." I yelled out to her as I quickly slid on some tennis shoes and walked out, with the twin daggers and sheaths in each of my hands.

I saw Granny leaning against the wall that my door was on and she looked in my direction when I walked into the hallway. "What took you so long?" she asked.

"Just thinking." I replied. What? It was the truth. "So, what's going on?"

"Your shihakusho is done."

"Really? Already?"

"For something this important, they do put a rush on it."

"Humph." I grunt, not really interested in getting that stupid uniform. I don't think that it will look all that good on me. Well, at least they were pants and not those skirts that my school almost made me wear. Thank God that I got out of that.

Granny started walking away and I quickly followed after her, not wanting to get lost in this giant maze of a building.

When we were almost to the end, a man was walking towards us. He was wearing a hat that looked like it was in the era and also a pink overcoat with flower designs on it. He had black hair and black eyes. I also noticed that he had a scruffy almost-beard growing on his chin.

He looked to Granny and said, "Good morning, ou-sama(your majesty)(Yes! I finally found the translation). Good to see that you are well."

"Good morning to you, too, Shunsui tai-chou." Granny replied, stopping a few feet away from him. And they continued talking.

I stayed out of it, knowing it was none of my business, and also I didn't even want to know. I moved to the wall and leaned up against it with my shoulder. I stuffed my hands into my pockets; putting the daggers into one of them as well.

I sigh as I ignore their talking, until I heard the man say, "My, and who might this be?"

I look over to him and see that he is looking at me. It was kind of a weird feeling that I was getting from him, and it sorta freaked me out a little.

"That is my granddaughter, Lily." Granny replies to him, as I stand straight once more.

He takes one on my hands into one of his, and kisses it. I was kinda grossed out by this since this is the first time that anyone has ever kissed my hand. "It's always a pleasure to meet Hime-sama." Cringe. And I almost did too, but I somehow held it back and smiled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too." I reply, gently taking my hand back from his grasp, trying to not let him notice.

"I'm Shunsui Kyoraku, tai-chou of the 8th company." he introduces himself.

I just nodded, trying to make this meeting as short as possible. What I wanted was to get the stupid shihakusho and get back in my room. But it didn't seem like that is going to happen. I then saw that he was looking down at one of my pockets. I looked down and saw that he was looking at the small daggers that were hanging out of my jean pockets.

"So, she has two too." he says, like in deep thought.

"Yes, one of the very few." Granny replies.

I looked at her very confused. A small, "huh?" came from my mouth.

"Including you, there are only three people in all of Soul Society that have two zanpaku-tos. And Shunsui tai-chou is one of them." she replies while holding up three fingers.

"Welcome to the club, little Hime-sama." Shunsui says with a small smile on his face.

I was still confused about the fact I just found out, that I didn't pay any mind to what he called me. Instead, I took the two zanpaku-tos out of my pocket to get a better look at them.

"They're so small though." I hear him say with the thoughtful voice again.

"I was wandering about that myself." Granny says in the same tone, "Maybe it's because she hasn't been trained."

"Might. But maybe it's something different, like they're bigger in shikai or bankai."

Again, I was so lost. I look up at them with a raised eyebrow, but it seemed that Granny was the only one who saw.

"Don't worry, I'll explain it all later Lily." she says.

Shunsui tai-chou let out a sigh before saying, "Well, I better be going, before Nanao-chan throws a fit for me being out so long." He then bows in front of Granny and I, and says before he turns to walk away, "It was a pleasure meeting you, Hime-sama."

As soon as he rounded the corner and I knew that he was out of ear-shot, I let out a grunt. "God, why do they call me that?" I ask mainly to myself.

"You mean, why do they call you by your proper title?" Granny asks me.

"I don't even want a title." I tell her, griping my zanpaku-tos hard.

She looks at me hard as I look at her the same way. She gives no reply, but turns sharply and tells me to follow her.

Soon after we reach the shop, I try on the shihakusho and show it to Granny.

"The sleeves are long." she says with her hand under her chin and giving a very thoughtful look.

"I like it." I say as I tug on the ends of the sleeves to somewhat hid my hands.

"It might affect your fighting skills."

"We won't know till we try."

"I don't think they suit you."

"Like I said; I like 'em."

Granny sighs in defeat and gives up trying to get me to agree to change them and I shout in success in my mind. She stands up and tells me that we're leaving. I quickly follow her out and walk beside her down the streets.

As we passed the sixth company station, I noticed Renji walking into it. Apparently, so did Granny, because she called him over before he got into the building.

"You need something, ou-sama?" he asks. It was now that I noticed his outfit.

"Are you doing anything today?" Granny asks him.

"No, it's my day off, so I'm just going to visit the prisoner." he replies, kind of looking confused.

"I have a small request for you Renji." she starts off, "Would you please look after Lily for a couple of hours? I have things that I need to prepare."

"Umm, sure, I can do that." Renji replied, still very confused.

When I heard what Granny said, I peeled my eyes off of what Renji was wearing and looked over to her with dinner plates for eyes. "What?" I wanted to yell, by I restrained myself as much as I could.

"Don't worry, it's only for a couple of hours. And besides, don't you want to see Rukia?" She had me there. I've been dying to see her since I got here. Rukia was the only person that I could really talk to now.

In defeat, I sighed and walked over to Renji's side. All the while giving Granny a small glare.

"Don't worry, like I said, only a couple of hours." Granny said with a smile on her lips as she walks away.

I give a small wave, but she doesn't see it because her back was to me.

"Alright. Let's go." Renji says, walking into the building. I quickly follow him and make sure to stay at his side.

After a few moments of silence, I speak up after noticing his attire for the second time. It was a white yukata with pink petals on it. "Nice outfit." I tell him with sarcasm dripping from the two words.

"Yeah, well, yours isn't half-bad either." he replies with the same tone.

"At least I was forced to wear this. You wore that on your own."

He just scoffed and looked ahead of him.

Soon we came to a large door. Renji pulled out an almost square thing, but it was sort of jagged on one side. I guessed that this was the key that got us in. He twirled it around his finger before putting it in a slot.

The door opened and we walked in to see a boy with a butterfly net.


End file.
